Typewriter check protector



Jan. 26, 1960 R. Y. WELLER TYPEWRITER CHECK PROTECTOR Filed Oct. 7, 1955 ROBERT WWYEER W l W 9 ffiwoanavs United States TYPEWRITER CHECK PROTECTOR Robert Y. Weller, Detroit, Mich.

Application October 7, 1955, Serial No. 539,081

17 Claims. (Cl. 197-6) The invention relates to protection devices and refers more particularly to a device attachable to an ordinary typewriter for protecting checks and the like.

One object of this invention is to provide a device for protecting checks and the like which is attachable to an ordinary typewriter and which is adapted to apply a protective marking to the check in response to the return movement of the typewriter carriage.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the type described which is moved to inoperative position by the carriage return arm toward the end of the return movement of the carriage.

In particular, the attachment comprises a member pivoted to the base of the typewriter for movement toward and away from the platen between operative and inoperative positions. The member has a roller thereon provided with marking means distributed about the periphery. In the operative position of the member, the roller is pressed against the platen with a toggle action in response to the return movement of the carriage to impress the marking means on a sheet of paper on the platen. In the present instance, the marking means comprises serrations which are adapted to press into the paper along the line previously typed to make it impossible to alter the typing without mutilating the paper.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a device of the type described which is positioned with respect to the typewriter platen so as to impress the serrations upon a sheet of paper carried by the platen along a line spaced from the line along which the type engages the paper in the direction of and a distance equal to the indexing of the platen by the carriage return arm upon initial return movement of the carriage by the arm. Accordingly, since the device operates upon return movement of the carriage, it will automatically protect the line previously typed upon indexing and return of the carriage by the carriage return arm.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds especially when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein- Figure 1 is a side elevational View of a typewriter having the attachment of my invention mounted thereon.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the structure shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlargement of a portion of Figure 2, partly in section.

Figure 4 is a sectional View.

Figure 5 illustrates a modification.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, the typewriter is indicated generally by thereference character and comprises a base 12 and a carriage 14 supported on the base for movement in opposite directions transversely of the base. As viewed in Figure 1, movement of the carriage relative to the base away from the viewer may be termed the forward movement of the carriage, and movement of the carriage toward the viewer relative to the base may be considered the return movement of the carriage. The carriage is provided with a carriage return arm 16 having a finger engaging hooked extremity 18 by means of which the carriage may be conveniently returned to starting position. The carriage return arm is normally mounted upon the carriage at the left-hand end thereof as the typewriter is viewed from the front side or from the left in Figures 1 and 2.

The elongated roller or platen 20 is supported on the carriage for movement of a unit therewith and for rotation about its own axis relative to the carriage. The arrangement is such that the pressure initially applied to the carriage return arm to return the carriage to starting position is suflicient also to index the platen so that the next line typed will be spaced a predetermined distance beneath the line previously typed on the sheet of paper 22 carried on the platen. In other words, the platen is indexed in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 1 during the initial part of the return movement. The type 24 is supported on the free ends of the type carrying arms or levers 26 which are operated in the usual manner by the keys 28. The top of the base has a central opening 29 for accommodating the levers 26 during their movement toward and away from the platen.

The typewriter attachment is generally indicated at 30 and includes a casing 32. A pivot pin 34 is provided for pivotally mounting the casing on the base 12 of the typewriter, and the axis of the pivot pin 34 extends at the angle to the horizontal supporting surface of the base as indicated and extends in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the platen. The casing 32 has top and bottom walls 35 and 36, side walls 37 and a front wall 38. The rear side 39 is open. The casing supports therewithin a roller 40 supported for rotation by a pin 41 extending between the top and bottom walls of the casing parallel to the pin 34. The roller 40 has a frusto-conical peripheral portion 42 formed with serrations 44, and is also formed with a cylindrical portion 46 which extends in continuation of the conical portion 42 and has raised letters 47 thereon. An inked tape 48 extends around the cylindrical portion 46 of roller 44) and around the flanged roller 50 supported for rotation within the casing upon the pin 52 which extends between the top and bottom walls of the casing in parallel relation to the pivot pin 34. An arm 54 has one end supported for rotation on the upper end of pin 52 within the casing and has a down-turned portion 56 at the other end which engages the inner surface of the tape and is urged in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Figure 3 by the tension coil spring 58 to place continuing tension on the tape 48. The spring 58 has one end connected to the arm 54 on the other end connected to an anchor 60 on the casing.

The casing is movable from an operative position shown in solid lines in Figures 2 and 3 to the dotted line or inoperative position. In the operative position of the attachment, both the conical and cylindrical portions of the periphery of the roller 40 are pressed against a sheet of paper on the platen with a toggle action in response to return movement of movement to the left of the carriage. This will beapparent from Figures 2 and 3. The distance between the pivot pin 34 and the platen Will be seen to be less than the distance between the pivot pin 34 and the portion of the peripheral surface of roller 40 most remote from pin 34- so that the effect of the return movement of the carriage will be to impose the toggle action on the device. As a result, the serrations 44 are pressed firmly into the paper on the platen. The device is positioned on the base 12 so that the serrations are impressed upon a sheet of paper on the platen along a line spaced from the line along which the type engages the paperindicated at A in Figure 4in the direction of and a distance equal to the indexing of the platen by the carriage return arm upon initial return of the carriage by the arm. Thus when the carriage is returned by the arm, 7

the platen is initially indexed to bring the line previously typed into position to be engaged by the serrations 44.

A stop pin 62 is permanently mounted on the base 12 of the typewriter and is provided to engage the side of the casing to determine both the operative and inoperative positions thereof. The stop pin thus prevents the roller serrations 44'from pressing into the paper with so much force that the surface of the platen-is damaged.

As the carriage reaches the end of its return movement, a projection 64 on the casing 32 is engaged by the carriage return arm when the device is in operative position to shift the device to inoperative position in which the roller 40 is spaced from the platen and from the paper thereon. I

The operation of the device should be readily apparent. When it is not desired to use the device, it is merely manually shifted to inoperative position shown in dotted lines. Sufficient friction is provided in the pivot mounting between the pin 34 and the casing 32 so that the vibration of the machine during normal typing will not accidentally swing the casing 32 to operative position.

When it is desired to employ the check protecting device, the same is merely manually shifted to operative position after a line which is desired to be protected has been typed. Then upon return movement of the carriage, the platen will initially index by the pressure upon the carriage return arm to rotate the line to be protected into position for engagement by the serrations 44 and continued return movement of the carriage will press the serrations into the paper with a toggle action. The inked tape surrounding cylindrical portion 46 of the roller will also be pressed against the paper beneath the serrated line to be protected and may type or print any desired indicia thereon. Thus the indicia on the cylindrical portion 46 of the roller 38 may bear the words protected or bonded, for example. Towards the end of the return movement of the carriage, the return arm 16 engages the projection 64 to shift the attachment to inoperative position where it will remain during the continued use of the typewriter until manually turned to operative position.

It is appreciated that most typewriters are adjustable to vary the indexing of the platen by the carriage return arm. It is contemplated that the position of the device 30 will be located in accordance with the most often used setting of the indexing adjustment, whether it be set for single, double or triple spacing. In the present instance the position of the device 30 is set for single spacing. Of course the platen may be manually indexed, without use of the arm 16, to the extent necessary to position a line to be protected opposite the serrations, and the device may then be used to protect the line typed upon return movement of the carriage.

A modification is illustrated in Figure in which the same parts are identified by corresponding reference characters. In the Figure 5 modification, the attachment 30 is adapted to be moved between operative and inoperative positions by the electromagnet 70 pivoted to the base. The core '71 of the electromagnet has an extension 72 pivotally connected to the casing 32 at 73. When the electromagnet is energized the core is shifted to the operative position and when the electromagnet is deenergized the core is returned by a suitable compression spring 74 to shift the casing to inoperative position.

In the Figure 5 construction, the projection 64 is of course ornited since the return of the casing to inoperative position will be effected by the electromagnet and not by engagement with the carriage return arm. The Figure 5 form of the invention is particularly adapted for electric typewriters which ordinarily do not have a carriage return arm. However, it will be understood that the attachment of Figure 5 may be employed with an ordinary manual typewriter in which the carriage return arm clears the attachment and therefore the movement 4 a of the attachment to inop'erative position is not effected by the carriage return arm.

The drawings and the foregoing specification constitute a description of the improved typewriter check protector in such full, clear, concise and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, the scope of which is indicated by the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a typewriter having a base, a carriage supported on the base for movement in opposite directions relative to the base, and a cylindrical platen mounted on the carriage with its axis parallel to the direction of movement of the carriage, an attachment comprising a member, pivot means mounting said member on the base for pivotal movement about an axis in a plane perpendicular to the platen axis between operative and inoperative positions relative to the platen and having a roller mounted on said member for rotation about an axis parallel to the axis of said pivot means, said roller having marking means on its periphery effective to engage a sheet of paper on the platen and mark the same in the operative position of said member and to move out of engagement with the sheet of paper on the platen upon movement of said member to inoperative position, the distance between the portion of said periphery remotest from said pivot means and said pivot means being greater than the distance between said platen and said pivot means whereby the marking means on said periphery, in the operative position of said member, is pressed against the sheet of paper on the platen with a toggle action by the platen in response to movement of the platen in one direction.

2. The structure set forth in claim 1 in which said marking means comprise serrations distributed around said periphery.

3. The structure set forth in claim 1 in which said marking means comprise raised indicia distributed around i said periphery and an inked tape passed around the periphery of said roller between said roller and platen.

4. The structure recited in claim 1 in which said marking means comprise raised indicia distributed around said periphery, a second roller mounted on said member for rotation, an inked tape between said first-mentioned roller and said platen and passed around the peripheries of said rollers, and tensioning means for taking up the slack in said tape.

5. The structure set forth in claim 4 in which said marking means comprise serrations distributed around the periphery of said first-mentioned roller.

6. In a typewriter having a base, a carriage supported on the base for forward and return movement in opposite directions, and a cylindrical platen on the carriage with its axis parallel to the direction of movement of the carriage, marking means mounted on the base for movement between operative and inoperative positions, said marking means being operative to mark a sheet of paper on the platen during return movement thereof in the operative position of said marking means, and means on said marking means engageable by a part on the carriage towards the end of the return movement of the carriage to move said marking means to inoperative position.

7. In a typewriter having a base, a carriage supported on the base for forward and return movement in opposite directions, a cylindrical platen on the carriage with its axis parallel to the direction of movement of the carriage, and a carriage return arm for effecting the return movement of the carriage, an attachment comprising a member, pivot means mounting said member on the base for pivotal movement about an axis in a plane perpendicular to the platen axis between operative and inoperative positions relative to the platen and having a roller mounted on said member for rotation about an axis parallel to the axis of said pivot means, said roller having marking means on its periphery effective to engage a sheet of paper on said member during return movement of the carriage and to move out of engagement with the sheet of paper on the platen upon movement of said member to inoperative position, the distance between the portion of said periphery remotest from said pivot means and said pivot means being greater than the distance between said platen and said pivot means whereby the marking means on said periphery, in the operative position of said member, is pressed against the sheet of paper on the platen with a toggle action by the platen in response to movement of the platen in the return direction, and means on said marking means engageable by the carriage return arm towards the end of the return movement of the carriage to move said member to inoperative position.

8. In a typewriter having a base, a carriage supported on the base for forward and return movement in opposite directions, a carriage return arm on the carriage for manually effecting the return movement of the carriage, and a cylindrical platen on the carriage with its axis parallel to the direction of movement of the carriage, marking means mounted on the base for movement between operative and inoperative positions, said marking means being operative to mark a sheet of paper on the platen during return movement thereof in the operative position of said marking means, and means on said marking means engageable by the carriage return arm towards the end of the return movement of the carriage to move said marking means to inoperative position.

9. In a typewriter having a base, a carriage supported on the base for movement in opposite directions relative to the base, and a cylindrical platen mounted on the carriage with its axis parallel to the direction of movement of the carriage, an attachment comprising a member, and pivot means mounting said member on the base for pivotal movement between operative and inoperative positions relative to the platen and having marking means effective to engage a sheet of paper on the platen and mark the same in the operative position of said member and to move out of engagement with the sheet of paper on the platen upon movement of said member to inoperative position, the distance between the paper engaging portion of said marking means and said pivot means being greater than the distance between said pivot means and the platen whereby said marking means, in the operative position of said member, is pressed against the sheet of paper on the platen with a toggle action by the platen in response to movement of the platen in one direction relative to the carriage.

10. In a typewriter having a base, a carriage supported its axis parallel to the direction of movement of the carriage, type mounted on the base for movement into engagement with a sheet of paper on the platen along a line predetermined circumferentially relative to the platen, and a carriage return arm for manually effecting the return of the carriage and simultaneously indexing the platen about its axis in one direction a predetermined distance, an attachment comprising a member, pivot means mounting said member on the base for pivotal movement about an axis in a plane perpendicular to the platen axis between operative and inoperative positions relative to the platen and having a roller mounted on said member for rotation about an axis parallel to the axis of said pivot means, said roller having marking means on its periphery effective to engage the sheet of paper on the platen and mark the same in the operative position of said member during return movement of the carriage and to move out of engagement with the sheet of paper on the platen upon movement of said member to inoperative position, said marking means engaging the sheet of paper on the platen along a line spaced circumferentially from the line of engagement of the type a distance equal to and in the direction of indexing of the platen by the carriage return arm, whereby said marking means will mark over the line typed during forward movement of the carriage on return movement thereof by the carriage return arm, the distance between the portion of said periphery remotest from said pivot means and said pivot means being greater than the distance between said platen and said pivot means whereby the marking means on said periphery, in the operative position of said support is pressed against the sheet of paper on the platen with a toggle action by the platen in response to movement of the platen in the return direction, and means on said member engageable by the carriage return arm towards the end of the return movement of the carriage to move said member to inoperative position.

11. In a typewriter having a base, a carriage supported on the base for forward and return movement in opposite directions, a cylindrical platen on the carriage with its axis parallel to the direction of movement of the carriage, type mounted on the 'base for movement into engagement with a sheet of paper on the platen along a line predetermined circumferentially relative to the platen, and a carriage return arm for manually effecting the return of the carriage and simultaneously indexing the platen about its axis in one direction a predetermined distance, an attachment comprising a member, and pivot means mounting said member on the base for pivotal movement about an axis in a plane perpendicular to the platen axis between operative and inoperative positions relative to the platen and having a roller mounted on said member for rotation about an axis parallel to the axis of said pivot means, said roller having marking means on its periphery efliective to engage the sheet of paper on the platen and mark the same in the operative position of said member during return movement of the carriage and to move out of engagement with the sheet of paper on the platen upon'movement of said member to inoperative position, said marking means engaging the sheet of paper on the platen along a line spaced circumferentially from the line of engagement of the type a distance equal to and in the direction of indexing of the platen by the carriage return arm, whereby said marking means will mark over the line typed during forward movement of the carriage on return movement thereof by the carriage return arm.

12. In a typewriter having a base, a carriage supported on the base for forward and return movement in opposite directions, a cylindrical platen on the carriage with its axis parallel to the direction of movement of the carriage, type mounted on the base for movement into engagement with a sheet of paper on the platen along a line predetermined circumferentially relative to the platen, and a carriage return arm for manually effecting the return of the carriage and simultaneously indexing the platen about its axis in one direction a predetermined distance, an attachment comprising a member, pivot means mounting said member on the base for pivotal movement about an axis in a plane perpendicular to the platen axis between operative and inoperative positions relative to the platen and having a roller mounted on said member for rotation about an axis parallel to the axis of said pivot means, said roller having marking means on its periphery effective to engage the sheet of paper on the platen and mark the same in the operative position of said member during return movement of the carriage and to move out of engagement with the sheet of paper on the platen upon movement of said member to inoperative position, said marking means engaging the sheet of paper on the platen along a line spaced circumferentially from the line of engagement of the type a distance equal to and in the direction of indexing of the platen by the carriage return arm, whereby said marking means will mark over the line typed during forward movement of the carriage on return movement thereof by the carriage return arm, the distance between the portion of said periphery remotest from said pivot means and said pivot means being greater than the distance between said platen and said pivot means whereby the marking means on said periphery, in; the operative position of said support, is pressed against the sheet of paper on the platen with a toggle action by the-platen in response to movement of the platen in the return direction, and means on said member engageable by the carriage return arm towards the end of the return movement of the carriage to move said member to inoperative position, said marking means comprising raised indicia distributed about said periphery, a second roller mounted on said member for rotation, and inked tape between said first-mentioned roller and said platen and passed around the peripheries of said'rollers, and tensioning means for taking up the slack in said tape, said marking means also including serrations distributed around the periphery of said firstmentioned roller.

13. Structure as defined in claim 12 including stop means preventing movement of said member beyond the aforesaid operative position.

14. In a typewriter having a base, a carriage supported on the base for movement in opposite directions relative to the base, and a cylindrical platen mounted on the carriage with its axis parallel to the direction of movement of the carriage, an attachment comprising a member pivotally mounted on the base for movement between operative and inoperative positions relative to the platen and having'marking means effective to engage a sheet 1 of paper on the platen and mark the same in the operative position of said member and to move out of engagement with the sheet of paper on the platen upon movement of said member to inoperative position, said marking means, in the operative position of said member, being pressed against the sheet of paper on the platen with a toggle action by the platen in response to movement of the carriage in one direction relative to the base, and an electromagnet for shifting said memher to operative position when energized and having spring means for shifting said member to inoperative position upon deenergization of said electromagnet.

15. In a typewriter having a base and a platen supported on the base for axial movement relative to the base, an attachment including a member mounted on the base for movement between operative and inoperative positions, said member 'having marking means engageable with a sheet of paper on the platen, in the operative position of said member, and means operative, in the operative position of said member, for holding said member in operative position under pressure in response to axial movement of the platen in one direction.

16. In a typewriter having a base, a carriage supported on the base for movement in, opposite directions relative to the base, and a cylindrical platen mounted on the carriage with its axis parallel to the direction of movement of the carriage, an attachment comprising a member, pivot means mounting said member on the base for pivotal movement about an axis in a plane generally perpendicular to the platen axis between operative and inoperative positions relative to the platen and having marking means efiective to engage a sheet of paper on the platen to mark the same in the operative position of said member and to disengage the sheet of paper on the platen upon movement of said member to inoperative position, the distance between said marking means and the axis of said pivot means being greater than the distance between said axis and the platen whereby said marking means, in the operative position of said memher, is pressed against the sheet of'paper on the platen with a toggle action by the platen in response to movement of the platen in one direction.

17. In a typewriter having a base and a platen supported on said base for axial movement relative to said base, marking means on said base for engaging a sheet of paper on 'said platen to mark the same, and means responsive to initial axial movement of said platen in one direction for pressing said marking means into engagement with the sheet of paper on said platen continuously during substantially the entire movement of said platen in said one direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 895,720 Briggs Aug. 11, 1908 904,857 Ferguson Nov. 24, 1908 1,578,048 Mabee Mar. 23, 1926 2,450,925 Tillman Oct. 12, 1948 

